New Zealand’s World No.8 Joelle King was forced to hold off a comeback from USA’s World No.21 Sabrina Sobhy in a five-game thriller as she booked her place in the quarter finals of the Allam British Open, taking place at Hull’s Allam Sport Centre this week.
King was forced to do things the hard way as Harvard graduate Sobhy bravely fought back from two-games down to push proceedings to a tense fifth game that went all the way to the tie-break before King, who was sporting strapping to her ankle, was able to convert on her fourth match ball attempt.
“Sabrina is a great athlete and if you put that ball loose, she puts it away,” said the New Zealander afterwards. “I was finding it really hard to win at the end of games, she just didn’t go away. There were a couple of points there I thought it wasn’t my day today, but somehow I found a way to win.
“She made me work for every point and sometimes those games are good. They make you really sharpen up. The first one obviously was quite comfortable and then she changed what she was doing. I’m just really pleased to win.”
The 32-year-old will face Egypt’s Hania El Hammamy in the next round after she overcame France’s World No.26 Melissa Alves in straight-games at the PSA World Tour Platinum event.
Manchester Open champion El Hammamy was dominant in the opening two games before 27-year-old Alves rallied well in the third, pushing the Egyptian into a tiebreak and threatening a fourth game. El Hammamy, however, kept her cool to see off the challenge, eventually taking the game 14-12 to seal a 3-0 victory.
“I think I played well,” said the World No.7. “Melissa kept me on my toes from the beginning of the match. I knew I would have to be very alert and focused because she keeps throwing everything at you and you have to keep up with her. I managed to do that in the first two games and then I lost a little bit of focus in the third. All credit to her, she played so well.
“I’ve played against Joelle a lot of times, so I know what to expect. Hopefully tomorrow’s going to be a tough match against her. I’m definitely happy she had a five-setter today, maybe that will help a little tomorrow. I think tomorrow’s going to be a physical and tough match.”
Meanwhile, defending champion Nouran Gohar ensured her run at the 2021 instalment continued in strong form as she produced an impressive display against Wales’ World No.11 Tesni Evans.
Gohar, who beat France’s Camille Serme in the final in 2019 to win the title, took the first game by an 11-7 margin before Evans began to cause real problems for her in the second as she went game ball up. However, a few errors cost the Welshwoman at the crucial time and the World No.2 was able to fight back and despite Evans saving one game ball, was able to convert on the second attempt.
“She’s a talented player so I knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” said Gohar. “I was just trying to find my range and my targets, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t, but it’s fine as long as I have a 3-0 win.
“The memories of 2019 are the highlight, but back to 2016 as well, I had some great matches and reached the final when I was 16 – it’s great when I remember those times. I always look forward to play this tournament, there’s some good vibes on court.”
She will face English No.1 Sarah-Jane Perry for a place in the semi-finals after the 2017 runner-up defeated Australia’s Donna Lobban by an 12-10, 11-5, 11-7 margin.
“I think I was a little bit lucky towards the end of the first to sneak that one,” said Perry afterwards.
“I thought I was starting to find my line and length, it is a bit of a baptism of fire even though we have practiced on here, coming and playing a match on here when you’ve been on the back courts. It’s probably been a bit of a theme, but you just have to adapt to it and I’m pleased to get through to another quarter final here, it’s awesome.
Results - Third Round (Bottom half): Women’s 2021 Allam British Open
[4] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt Melissa Alves (FRA) 3-0: 11-6, 11-4, 14-12 (39m)
[7] Joelle King (NZL) bt Sabrina Sobhy (USA) 3-2: 11-1, 11-9, 11-13, 2-11, 13-11 (63m)
[5] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) bt Donna Lobban (AUS) 3-0: 12-10, 11-5, 11-7 (23m)
[2] Nouran Gohar (EGY) bt Tesni Evans (WAL) 3-0: 11-7, 13-11, 11-3 (33m)
Draw – Women’s Quarter Finals: To Be Played August 20th
[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) v Nadine Shahin (EGY)
[6] Amanda Sobhy (USA) v Rowan Elaraby (EGY)
[4] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) v [7] Joelle King (NZL)
[5] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) v [2] Nouran Gohar (EGY)
